1. Field
The present invention relates to a standup exercise apparatus that simulates jogging, running and climbing with arm exercise. More particularly, the present invention relates to an exercise machine having separately supported pedals for the feet and push-up arm exercise coordinated with the motion of the feet.
2. State of the Art
The benefits of regular exercise to improve overall health, appearance and longevity are well documented in the literature. For exercise enthusiasts the search continues for safe apparatus that provides full body exercise for maximum benefit in minimum time.
The sit down exercise cycle is the most commonly used apparatus today to elevate the heart rate and exercise some of the leg muscles. To achieve any significant benefit, however, an extensive amount of time is demanded of the user resulting in boredom. The Lifecycle, U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,105 leads a popular trend to reduce the boredom of sit down cycling by offering programmed load resistance change over many minutes of cycling and a clever display to capture the attention of the user. More recently, computers interface with the user to vary the exercise routine. However, the issue of extensive time, limited muscle usage and vigorous arm exercise are not addressed.
Hand cranks and levers have long been applied to arm exercise. More recently, Hegel in U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,241 uses a simple hand crank and friction brake while Cosby et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,012 use an adjustable length crank and hydraulic pump for standup exercise. Giannelli et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,318 also shows a hand crank to drive a hydraulic pump with one-way clutches. Duggan in U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,182 again uses a hand crank to drive a flywheel having foot adjustable load resistance.
Heilbrun in U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,633 use powered rotary cranks for various position related passive exercise. Gause et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,480 claim an ergometer that can be operated in a prone position using a hand crank located below a body supporting platform.
Swing arms for arm exercise are used by Carlson et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,015 to arm wrestle while Carlson in U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,099 adapts swing arms for a variety of arm and leg motions in one machine. Iams et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,740 applies spring loaded handles in a prone platform supporting position to simulate the arm motion of swimming. Berne in U.S. Pat. No. 2,921,791 and McGillis et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,668 use articulated arms for various arm exercise.
Numerous combinations of levers and cranks to combine exercise for arms and feet can be found. Hex in U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,200 combines arm and foot levers for sit down exercise while Bull et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,233 combines arm and foot levers for standup exercise.
Ruden in U.S. Pat. No. 1,344,963 combines separate hand cranks with a foot crank and cam operated abdomen exercise. Hand and foot cranks are combined by Nies in U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,699 with speed variations. Zent in U.S. Pat. No. 3,213,852 varies the angular relationship between left and right cranks by motor drive. Kepiro in U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,732 combines cranks with a clutch drive. Figueroa in U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,863 provides independent hand and foot cranks.
Zent in U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,235 combines cranks with a disc brake for sit down exercise. Morgan in U.S. Pat. No. 3,601,395 has independent cranks where the handlebar rotates against a friction brake. Kurlytes et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,468 provides independent spring loaded cranks for standup exercise. Aronsohn in U.S. Pat. No. 3,017,180 uses hand cranks on either side of the user for sit down pedal exercise. Sbarra in U.S. Pat. No. 2,783,044 shows coupled cranks with tension adjustment in the handle. Quellette in Canadian Pat. No. 730,035 shows independent cranks where the hand crank is on a swing arm located by detent.
Odom in U.S. Pat. No. 3,216,722 couple adjustable length cranks. DeBoer in U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,269 couples cranks using ratcheted sprockets. Ashworth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,141 couples the cranks with different size sprockets to change hand phasing for sit down exercise. Huang in U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,269 uses independent cranks which follow a geared track in sit down exercise.
Arm levers combined with a foot crank for sit down exercise has grown popular in the last 20 years of fitness. Glaser in U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,913 shows reciprocating handle and seat coupled to a foot crank. Yount et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,512 shows spring loaded arm levers and foot crank. Mester in U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,201 provides independent levers with a foot crank for various sit down exercise. Hooper in U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,030 couples a pair of swing arms to a foot crank with a crank eccentric for sit down exercise having air resistance.
Lucas et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,225 offer oscillating arm levers coupled to the foot crank by a connecting rod. Dalebout et al. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,971,316 and 5,000,444 also shows oscillating swing arms coupled to the foot crank by an offset second crank and connecting rod. Lom in U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,533 offers oscillating arms driven by a crank-slider coupled to a foot crank.
In recent years, stair climbers have become very popular due to the higher loading possible with standup exercise as well as different muscles used compared to sit down exercise. The Stairmaster U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,338 is one of the most popular stair climbers allowing up and down independent parallel foot pedal movement with programmed load variation over multiple cycles as well as a clever display to hold the attention of the user. Young et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,858 adds arm levers to the stair climber concept for arm exercise.
Standup pedaling approaches the benefits of running to the cardiovascular system because a higher load resistance is possible over sit down cycling. Dr. Cooper in his book entitled THE AEROBICS PROGRAM FOR TOTAL WELL-BEING by Dr. Kenneth Cooper, Bantam Books, New York, 1982 awards only half the benefit points to sit down stationary cycling (page 260) over regular cycling which includes an equal amount of uphill and down hill course (page 255). Dr. Cooper grades running better than regular cycling, but without the downhill rest inherent in regular cycling, it is certain that standup cycling with vigorous arm exercise would exceed running for cardiovascular benefits in less time.
Standup cycling is described in various patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,541 (Sanquist) which uses weighted free pedals as load resistance and side to side twisting motion. Also U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,519,603 and 4,477,072 by DeCloux describe standup cycling with free pedals in a lift mode to simulate body lifting.
Standup pedal exercise is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,419 (Hyde) and by the DP Air Strider as previously sold by Diversified Products of Opelika, AL where pedal platforms move by crank motion but remain parallel to the floor.
Standup pedal exercise combined with arm levers attached to the pedals is shown in Kummerlin et al. German Pat. No. 2,919,494 and in Geschwender U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,050. Standup pedal exercise coupled with oscillating swing arms is shown in Miller U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,242,343 and 5,383,829 and in Eschenbach U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,729. None of the pedal operated exercise machines anticipate arm exercise with the operator in a standup position where an appreciable amount of body weight is supported by the arms.
There is a need for a pedal operated exercise machine that can be safely operated in the standup position whereby the arms can be exercised in a push-up motion.